hitchcock



M. T. HITGHGOGK. GAR VENTILATOR.

No. 80,411. Patented July 28, 1868.

1T0 ALLWHOM IT MAY, concerts:

M.'T. HITGHCOGK, OFSPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent No. 80,411, dated July 28,1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILROAD-GAR VENTILATORS.

at; fitlj'ehule want taiu that Esters 33mm an mating part at the ante.

Be it known that I, M. T. HIIOHCOGK, of springfield, in the county of Hampden, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a new and improved Car-Ventilator; and I do hereby declare that the following is a"full,- clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the-letters of reference marked thereon, in 'which- Figure '1 is a side'elevation. of said ventilator, shown as applied to the floor of c railway-car. Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section, through fig. 1, and I Figure is a ho-rizontal'longitudinal section, through line x y, fig, 1.

The main purpose of-myinvention consists in withdrawing the ai from a railway-ear, and such withdrawal and edh'fction of air I conceive to be best performed from the floor or lowest'part of the car, althouglrthe apparates will operate efiiciently in other positions than that represented'in. the drawings, as is hereafter explained.

The ventilator consists of a T-sh aped exhaust-tube, supplied with valves, and enclosed in a shell or case,

'hichcase is rigidly fastenedtc the floor ofthe car, the ends opening towards the respective ends of'the car] The upper end of the vertical portion of the T-shaped exhaust-tube passes through the floor of the car, and isop'ened or-closed, like an ordinary furnace-flue, by a register set in the car-floor The ends of the-horizontal portion oi'the exhaust-tube are not planes, but are formed by two planes intersecting the, cylinders at an angle, as shown in the drawings, and these ends are. provided with hinged valves, which .are arranged to move freely under the pressure of a current of air, and are in such a relative position that when the valves at one end of the exhaust-tube are closed by a current, those at the opposite end 'will be opened, and therefore the-exhaust will operate equally well in whichever direction the car is moving, I withoutattention or adjustment from any quarter.

v The shell ,or casewhich encloses the exhaust-tube is nearly semi-cylindrical, and is provided with flaring flanges or deflectors ateach end, and two posts, against which the valves strike when opened. 'In actual use these posts will be covered with rubber, or other Soft substance, and the ends;of the tubes, against which the valves strikewhen closed, will be provided with a washer or cushion of the same, so that the valves will operate noiselessly in opening and closing.

The exhaust-tube'and'case are made cylindrical inform, 'for convenience arid clzcapness in manufacture, but may be prismatic or polygonal in'cross-section, with no'material difl'erence in the efiiciency of the apparatus. The construction'of my invention is as follows: The T-shaped exhaust-tube is formed ofthe horizontal c'ylindcrlil, and the vertical cylinder A opening into it, both being of the same or nearly the same'diameter or internal capacity.-

The'cnds of? are not circle s,'but are formed by the intersectionof two planes, as at ef, meeting in the line of'the vertical diameter of B, which line determinesthe position of the hinges h. If, however, the apparatus be attached to the side" instead of the'bottom of a car, the line of the hinges h'k will still be'in the vertical diam et'eroi' B, but will then be at afr-i ght anglc-to-the axisA. l

The angular ends of B are made precisely similar, so as to secure the same action,whcther the car is movingin one direction or-theother. The angle atwhich the plane's which form the ends of B converge, is nearly a right angle, by which inclinationl conceivethehest effectof the valves to be produced.

To attaehth'e valves to thc cylinder B, a hinge-post, g g, is attached to the' outer points of leach end. The shapc'of each ofjthe similar valves, a a b 6, is such as to cover one-half of the end of B, at whatever anglo the 'cylinder is cut by the converging planes, and hinge-loops h'ii are formed upon the straight edges of the valves,

through which thc-hingo-post g g-passes, and about which the valves turn. 'In the drawings the vertical tube A is shown as entering a chamber, 'D, of enlarged capacity, so as to compensate for the air-space taken up by the bars or grate-work of the register R, in the floor of the car.

The shell or case isformecl of an'oval hood and a plane top, which is applied directly to'the bottom of the car, or to a support extending below and parallel with the bottom, and there firmly secured The edges of the amen 2 plane top' project beyond the hood, so as to fo rm'flanges, by which the ventilator is fastened to the ear. The

vertical tube A is rigidly attached to the planetop of the hood, at the point where it enters it, and in ventilators of large size, the tube'B may be further secured to the hood by stays, if necessary.

' The exhaust-tube, valves, andshell, Iprefer to construct of firm and smooth sheet metal, which afi'ords even surfaces for the guidance of the currents, and I attach the ventilator nearly in-the middle of the length of the car, or so that the register will openf into theaisletf' i I propose to apply to each car one or more of these ventilators, nearly in line with one another', t he mimbcr necessary, to be dete rmined by,,thesize and use of the ear;

The same ventilator may be applied with great efficiency to 'the'ro'of of'a car, or to the side of the deck" of a double-roofed car, but I prefer to exhaust the air from the floor, a supply of fresh and pure air being introduced at the hpper part byth efu'se' of the induction-ventilator, for which I have received Letters Patent, No. 74,534, and dated February 18,1868, or hycther devices for the same purpose.

The operation of my invention is as follows; The ventilator, being rigidly attached to the floor ofthe car, it is evident that when the cards immo tion, in a direction opposite. to the direction of,the arrows, the air will enter the shell, somewhat condensed by the sheet of the flaring flanges, and will rush through the shell, and

around the sides of the 'eirhaust tub'e B.

v The force of this entering current'willbe suilicient to close the valves b at' the entering end, andthe incli-' nation of the valves so closed will deflect theair' towards the space between the shell and the tube B. This .current will move on past the other .end'of the exhaust-tube, and by the well-known action of a moving current,

will tend to draw the air in the oxhaust-tubealongwith it, and the valves a will open to allow its passage.

The flange a, on the shell, will tendto cause a slight rarefaction of the current moving within the shell at that point, and thus increase its force and velocity. The curved red lines show the movement of' the currents of air passing down through the register, and out of'the exhaust-tube.

It is also evident that the more rapidly the car moves, the more powerful will be the exhaustion of air through the exhaust-tube B, and also that if the motion of 'the carshould be reversed, the valves or will imine-- diately close, ,while the valves]; will open, and theeduetion of air from the car will be the same in one case as' in the other. i i l V p Some of the advantages of my invention are, its cheapncss, simplicity, and the fact of its being entirely selt opcrating. It is also light, compact, and when applied to thebcttom of a car, is entirely outcf the way,

and in great measure removed from sight. Its'natnre also enables me-to place the ventilator between the ground and the bottom of the car, where the most favorable action oi an eduction-ventilator can be obtained, as I believe that the system of creating a circulation of air in a railwayj-ear, by withdrawing the air from the bottom of the car by means of the apparatus herein described, or by any other, the functions of whieh are the same, possesses many and great advantages over the system of car-ventilation new in use, and is new and novel as a meansof thorough andself-operating ventilation.

I am aware that rotating ventilators have been constructed, in which the exhaust-tube was surrounded by a case or shell, so placed as to leave an air-passage etween the shell and the exhaust-tube, and I do not claim such aconstruetion e'sinny invention, when considered apart from'my described construction and. arrangement of the several parts which constitute my improved-ventilatori Having described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The T-shaped exhaust-tuhe, hauing inclined ends, and valves a b attached thereto,"for the purpose of I adjusting the action. of the ventilator to the direction of the motion, of the cangand enclosed within the sheil C, which is rigidlyatt'achedto the car, in sucha'manner as to form an air-passage between the exhaust-tube and shell, the whole constructed, arranged, and operating substantially as sctforth.

. 2. vAn exhaustingventilator, rigidly-attached to the bottom of a railway-car, and sonrranged as to exhaust equally well, whether-said car moves in one direction or the other, substantially asset orth, and to dischargethe air from the 'car directly beneath the same as specified.

J In witness whereof, I'havc hereunto set my hand, this seventeenth day of April,-A. D. 1868.

j M. T. HITGHCOGK. Witnesses:

F. Woonnunr, J. P..Bnoxns np. 

